Conflict analysis in construction project management

This thesis concerns the management of conflict in construction projects. Theories of conflict and their outworking in practice are reviewed, with examples from the research data integrated where appropriate. A preliminary investigation of construction activities was carried out in collaboration with a series of construction clients, in which data collected formed the basis of a methodology that uses a process of hierarchical decomposition to classify and render the data suitable for subsequent analysis. In the main investigation, the relationship between the impact of conflict on construction projects and project management strategy is addressed, drawing on examples of conflict collected in semi-structured interviews with participants in nineteen construction projects. Conflict analysis, enhanced by a validation review with the interviewees, pointed to the existence of potentially damaging conflict embedded in all construction projects. The analysis also led to the identification of seven statistical associations and to the formulation of nineteen recommendations to construction clients. A questionnaire-based quantitative survey among independent organisations showed a positive response to the recommendations made. A cyclical model, derived from the research methodology, is outlined to enable project organisations to improve their project management strategy from project to project.